Software Review
Multitimbral Analog Synthesizer
The goal with Arturia Synthx V was to be able to recreate this synth classic in software form with all its inimitable features, such as the multitimbrality and two-layer architecture, but above all the sound! It was the sound that attracted so many of our top keyboardists. Jean-Michel Jarre used it for his lazer harp sound on his album Rendez-Vous, Geoff Downes used it on Asia’s album Astra, and both Stevie Wonder and Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) have stroked its keys on more than one occasion. And if we’re going to name-drop a little more, we should of course mention both Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), Keith Emerson and the two Italian film score composers Fabio Frizzi and Ivan Iusco among all the many enthusiastic Syntex users.
It would of course be very unlike the developers at French software and hardware company Arturia if they didn’t also take the opportunity to put a few more features into their software, features that perhaps the aforementioned musicians would have been overjoyed if they had been available in the original hardware. We’re talking about the drag-and-drop functions for modulation, all the new effects, and a range of expressive keyboard controls. But surely it is still the inimitable sound that attracts the most? Or… well, that’s actually the point. It’s always primarily the sound that Arturia wants to imitate with its software.
Short story
But of course it didn’t start there…
Sequential Circuits’ Prophet 5 had just taken the world by storm – along with a few other almost equally impressive polysynths – and Italian inventor Mario Maggi definitely wanted to get on board.
He had a vision for what he wanted a polyphonic synth to look and sound like, and he was prepared to put a lot of time into making his dream a reality. It took him 12 years of diligent research and countless sleepless nights, but in the end he had recreated his dream – the Elka Synthex was born.
The year was 1981, but already in the early 70s Maggi had started developing various guitar pedals. He also made his own monosynth, which was later named Synt-o-rama, a synth with certain sonic characteristics that were reminiscent of the Minimoog. Among other projects that appeared, we find a modular guitar synthesizer and the creation MCS70, which was one of the first synthesizers equipped with memory modules, which allowed you to save your sound settings. But it was the Synthex that was his dream – an analogue, polyphonic synthesizer with proper memory functions.
Maggi was helped by the Italian organ manufacturer Elka-Orla in launching and mass-producing the Synthex. It had 8-voice polyphony and a 4-track integrated sequencer, and above all, a price tag that wasn’t totally off-putting even to the non-elite musician.
Success was guaranteed. Or… actually, it took a few years before the big synth lovers, like Jean-Michel Jarre, the guys in Depeche Mode, and a few more opened their eyes (and ears) to Elka Syntex. Things actually went pretty slowly at first for Synthex, and it is said that only a thousand synths were manufactured before the whole project was shut down. Only at the end was the Syntex equipped with MIDI, and the very last copies are said to have been sold at a bargain price via the English trade magazine Electronics and Musicmaker. However, Jarre is said to have three fully functioning copies in his possession, and uses them both live and in the studio. But now we should be talking about the software, right…
Analogue elegance – with a distinct modern twist
Arturia has done it before. Their experience and success in creating software versions of classic analog synthesizers goes back several decades. We have all enjoyed a lot of software synthesizers in the form of Arturia-developed emulations of Roland, Moog and Oberheim synthesizers. And of course we find countless of them in the new V Collection 11 Pro, along with no less than seven completely new creations, including of course the Syntx V. Among the other new products are the Jup-8000 V, Pure LoFi, Synthx V, MiniBrute V, the new SEM V and the next generation of various “Augmented Instruments”.
With Syntx V the developers – thanks to all their DSP know-how – have succeeded in recreating something that sounds very similar to the original – at least as we remember it from countless hit records from the “good old synth days”.
Here we find lots of sounds that truly recreate all the good things from that era, but of course Arturia doesn’t stop there. In addition to recreating the original filter sound with the fat, nice, spacious tones of this old Italian classic, they have added a number of extremely useful features.
The powerful Multi-Arp function is complemented by a drag-and-drop modulation, ample space for four different effects units and also very expressive keyboard controls. This will give Arturia a lot of plus points!
Large, expansive soundscapes
Among the 240 different presets we find both classic analog sounds that are clearly inspired by the original’s factory settings and significantly more modern creations. And among those who contributed soundscapes we find lots of both well-known and lesser-known producers and sound creators.
Like some other great-sounding synths from this era, such as the Roland Super JX/MKS-70, the Synthex had two digitally controlled oscillators per voice while filters and other things responsible for the soundscape were analog. Like the Roland synth just mentioned, the Elka Synthex could play two different sound sets simultaneously, which of course opened up for really fat and enveloping soundscapes. This feature is also available in the Arturia Synthx V, in a refined version.
You can edit sounds A and B separately, and add one of the excellent arpeggio variants to one of them (or both), and pan them hard for a wide stereo image, and so on. And if you want to screw it up even further, there are extensive editing options if you press the Advanced button. Here we find the four effects blocks, where you can decide for yourself which of the 17 different effects should be included. You have excellent reverb and delay effects, but there are also compressors, distortions, and various modulation effects such as chorus, flanger and the like, to use if you feel like it. I myself was childishly fond of the Chorus JUN-6, and we won’t award any prizes to anyone who can guess where Arturia found that effect.
More to the plus side
Then we have the absolutely excellent Multi-Arp arpeggio function. It replaces the original’s 4-track sequencer with an incredibly easy-to-understand graphical interface where you can play tricks and fix the sounds – firstly which notes should be played, but also at what tempo and in what order. By combining the four different arpeggio parts, you can create incredibly versatile soundscapes that bounce around in all sorts of different polyrhythmic time signatures, and all this can also be done as a background to a ready-made analog-like sound that you choose and edit completely to your own liking and taste. Wow! I really fell in love with this. Instant Kharma music (not chamber music!).
When it comes to creating sounds from scratch, you of course have lots of possibilities with the dual oscillators. In addition to the four basic waveforms, you also have the option of cross-pulse width modulation between the two oscillators, ring modulation to create more strange sounds, and hard-sync, where oscillator 1 is synchronized with oscillator 2, plus all combinations of all of these.
Drag-and-drop modulation
And if this is not enough, the Arturia Syntx V offers lots of flexible modulation options. You can use four different methods at the same time, ADSR, Function, Random and Sequencer. Thanks to the clear graphical interface, you can easily select both the method, source and target for the modulation. If you are in the slightest doubt about how this works, there is actually an excellent Tutorial Function built into Synthx V, where everything is explained in an understandable way for us who are a little more slow-witted. We are of course extra grateful for this.
You will find all these functions under the Advanced tab, which opens when you click on the text Advanced in the top right corner of the interface. If you choose instead to click on the small Arturia logo with an A, situated in the space between the Layer Controls and the Master controls, another tab will open. This slot is considerably smaller in size and also smaller in terms of features, compared to the Advanced slot. Here we find some features that mainly have to do with how old and worn the analog model for this virtual synth should be perceived to be. You can let the aging affect how stable the synth is in pitch, and also how other features have been affected by age. Room for experimentation.
Multimode filter
Elka Synthex had nice and very good-sounding filters, namely the Curtis CEM3320. Among other things, the synthesizer was known for being one of the first synthesizers to include a hi-pass filter, and of course Arturia has also recreated this function. But true to Aturias habit, they have also added a new low-pass mode that was just waiting to be released.
Other novelties implemented in the software are that it is compatible with keyboards that support both polyphonic after-touch, NKS and MPE.
Summary
It took a while, but today the Elka Synthex has truly achieved a certain cult status among synth enthusiasts. As a curiosity, I saw a working machine for sale online as recently as the day before yesterday, where the seller wanted 92,000 SEK (ca: 9000 euros) for it. With that in mind, the price tag of 149 euros feels very affordable. Also if you take the plunge in the not too distant future, the price will be 99 euros, so this might be worth thinking about.
With the Syntx V, Arturia has recreated much of what everyone loved about the Elka Syntex – the double set of oscillators, the great-sounding filters, the ability to play two different sets of sounds at the same time, and more – plus they added a number of more modern features, such as the excellent Multi-Arp function, the new modulation possibilities, the many and great-sounding effects…
Well, actually, we should probably round off from there. There’s no point in continuing to use all these superlatives. I think it’s for you to just listen for yourself – form your own opinion. There are tons of excellent sound samples on the developers’ website. Personally, I am only extremely satisfied! And right now it’s far too hot to continue writing. It’s over 30 degrees Celsius here in Gothenburg, and it’s impossible even to make music… It’s only coolness that matters. Best of luck!
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Windows: Win 10 or later (64bit); 4 GB RAM; 4-core CPU; 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost); 3 GB free hard disk space; OpenGL 2.0 kompatible GPU
Apple: macOS 11 or later; 4 GB RAM; 4-core CPU; 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz Turbo-boost) or M1 CPU; 3 GB free hard disk space; OpenGL 2.0 kompatible GPU
FORMAT Standalone, VST, AAX, Audio Unit (NKS support)
DEVELOPER Arturia, www.arturia.com
INFO www.arturia.com/products/software-instruments/synthx-v/overview
PRICE Now: 99 Euro, normally: 149 Euro (also comes incuded in V Collection 11)
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